Indonesia to launch own satellite of A2

Rep: Roshma Widiyani/Satya Festiani/ Red: Yeyen Rostiyani

spacetoday.org

Indonesian satellite A2 makes into the orbit in the second semester of 2012. (illustration)

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan) will again launch earth observation satellite named Satelit Lapan Orari (A2). The A2 is made and designed by Indonesian experts. “The process takes two years. and fully made by our own engineers. We got long-distance guide from senior engineer at Technishe Universitaet Berlin, Germany,” the Deputy Chairman for Aerospace Technology at Lapan, Soewarto Hardhienata, said.

The satellite will be launched in second semester of 2012 from Sriharikota, India using Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The satellite will be transported to India on June 2012.

The A2 satellite is an advanced version of the previous one, A1. The mission of satellite A2 is to ease disaster mitigation by cooperating with Indonesian Amateur Radio Organisation (Orari) to examine Indonesian land surface and observe the traffic in shipping lane in Indonesian water, especially the big size ship. To support the mission, the satellite is equipped with RGB Camera Surveillance, Automatic Identification System (AIS), and Orari Communication Equipment.

This micro satellite will orbit equatorially, which is from west to east. The satellite will pass Indonesia every 97 minutes or 14 times a day. The satellite will operate until next ten years.